Glimpse spring 2002.

A brief look at things for people interested in general semantics.

"Facts as we see them are little more than quick glimpses of a ceaseless transformation ..." -- Wendell Johnson, People in Quandaries

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Language as Obfuscation 

Euphemism -- while the word comes from the Greek for "good speaking," these days it more often refers to a word or phrase intended to soften reality, cover up something embarrassing, or divert attention from the "reality" of a situation. Indeed, Dr. Kent Linville, Professor at Oxford College of Emory University, referred to euphemisms as "linguistic fig leaves." The following euphemisms appeared in e-mail from readers of the Internet A Word A Day service, a.k.a AWAD (http://wordsmith.org/awad/index.html). The word "euphemism" had figured in a message the previous week, and it triggered quite a flood of "me too" messages about favorite euphemisms.

From A Dictionary of Contemporary American Usage by Bergen and Cornelia Evans, 1957: "The opposite of euphemism is dysphemism. If it is plain talk to call a spade a spade and a euphemism to call it a delving instrument, it is a dysphemism to call it a bloody shovel."

In Edward Albee's play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, when George wants Martha to help their guest Honey to the bathroom, he says, "Show her where we keep the euphemism."

How about "urban outdoorsman" for a homeless person, "yesterday's fresh" for day-old pastries, or "vintage" or the even better "previously new" for used or old.

In some legal circles, it is said that when a person dies, their estate "matures." Worse yet, emergency medical technicians use the acronym ART for such people, indicating that the person is "Assuming Room Temperature"!

And at Three Mile Island, they apparently had an "unscheduled energetic disassembly," not an "explosion."

What Color is Your Universe?

Astronomers have worked Out the color of the Universe -- and the calculated shade lies between aquamarine and a pale turquoise. Note that this does not describe any particular star or dust cloud or planet in any particular quadrant of the Universe. It happens that the large number of old red giant stars and hot new blue stars averages out to a frequency just on the green side of turquoise.

Does this "mean" our "universe is turquoise"? For practical purposes, it means very little. For theoretical purposes, it means that if you had an eye large enough to see large swaths of the universe, you might get the impression of turquoise. As so often seems to happen, science makes one statement and the popular press turns it into a whole different message.

Advertisers often manipulate language to sell products. In this advertising campaign for a new light bulb, GE has made a claim that I find difficult to accept -- this new light bulb "reveals true light." I object to this not just for the standard reason ("don't believe everything you read") but even more so from a general semantics point of view. If they had just claimed that their bulb delivers a light that people find more comfortable, more agreeable, a light that makes things look nice, I would not have objected. But "true light" -- true for whom and in what sense? Read the GE advertising copy and judge for yourself:

By simply replacing ordinary incandescents with GE Reveal bulbs, many people will be able to see the truer colors of fabrics, upholstery, walls, artwork and clothing in their homes. Interiors appear so noticeably improved with Reveal lighting, it's like an "instant room makeover" at a fraction of the cost of redecorating.

We Have a Word for It

Miles Kington, columnist with the British newspaper Independent has a bit of fun with plurals. He offers examples from A to Z, including:

... the commonest grammatical dicta in English: that you form the plural of a noun by adding -s .... Nothing could be further from the truth. In English any letter can be used to form the plural.

... A quick tour of the alphabet will tell a different story:

A A plural formed in -a is normally literary or commercial, e.g. curricula, data, incunabula, media, strata, etc. (Never forget that etc. stands for "et cetera." Cetera is a plural noun. Does it end in -s? I think not) ....

C The plural of "man waiting to be separated from his money" is "public."

N Perhaps the oldest and nicest plural in English, as in men, women, oxen, children, brethren and the Opposition.

P The plural of pop singer is "group."

W "Few" is the small plural of one.

But don't include words ending in "s" in the list of plurals:

It only remains to stress that -s is a singular ending. Trousers, pants, jeans, scissors -- all purport to be plural but each is a singular object. A "spectacle" is all you can see, but "spectacles" is one small thing on your nose.

Kington concludes:

As a final clincher, look at any English verb. He works, they work. Which is plural? Which has the -s ending? I thank you.

Quote/UnQuote

"The very best philosophy is apodictic (*). It proceeds slowly, carefully, skeptically, via demonstration and argument, until suddenly something new comes to light."

Peter Mann, "Good Will Hunting; Existentialists and Mystics," The Los Angeles Times, April 12, 1998.

* apodictic (ap-uh-DIK-tik) adjective, Demonstrably true. [From Latin apodicticus, from Greek apodeiktikos, from apodeiknynai (to demonstrate), from apo- + deiknynai (to show).]

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